GROUND BOOK Unlocks 25 artistic voices

For the GROUND book, 25 unique thinkers, artists, curators & visionaries reflect on the artist-run platform for cross-cultural collaboration and research—Ground Art Fest. Created and managed by artists for artists, it brought together contributors from Armenia, Germany, Japan and China to do site-specific projects in the city of Gyumri.

GROUND is a richly illustrated book about the site-specific art festival Ground Art Fest that happened in Gyumri in summer 2021. Diverse contributions—interviews, critical essays, personal memos etc.— draw on art history, social anthropology and philosophy, but largely engage personal experiences of the authors. Along with the collaborative spirit of the festival, the publication encourages 25 researchers to interpret artistic exchange between 25 Armenian and international participants and to foster a foundation for future projects.

illustration by Shamiram Khachatryan

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For this important book we are doing more than in our hands. The initial funding of €6000 enabled us to pay honoraria for 75% of the work of 25 authors. Further funding applications are currently in progress and are meant to cover the rest. Our ultimate goal is to print 300 copies in 2 languages, Armenian and English. To ensure it, we've decided to raise the remaining €10,000 in 3 goals together with YOU! Your contribution is crucial for covering the remaining fees of designers, translators, proofreaders, and partly printing costs. We strongly believe that we’ll soon be able to distribute the book widely, even to rural Armenian and European libraries, reaching out to diverse audiences and stimulating their interest in contemporary art.

Book Content Overview:

The first part of the book starts with a personal letter by Maria Matinyan, co-founder of the festival, for which she expands on the ideas and intention behind the project. Then, readers are introduced to Gyumri and its genius loci through Aram Pachyan's poetic essay; in the following dialogue between Vazgen Pahlavuni-Tadevosyan and Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan, the insights about the Gyumri International Biennale and local art community are shared and discussed. The second part of the book focuses on photo documentation of the festival, critical texts, and artists' statements of the participants.

Contributing authors delve into the art interventions carried out in situ during the Ground Art Fest and consider them within the cultural context and everyday life of Gyumri. Writers and scholars from Vienna and Munich join their forces with Armenian cultural anthropologists, activists and journalists to reach an understanding of the festival’s impact on the local community and to outline a potential future cooperation.

illustration by Shamiram Khachatryan

Risks and challenges:

We acknowledge the financial uncertainties, coordination challenges, and potential cultural sensitivities involved in this project. To mitigate these risks, we're diversifying our funding sources, fostering clear communication among contributors, and prioritizing cultural sensitivity training.

Our goal is to ensure the project's success by addressing these challenges proactively. Our ideal plan (Plan A) is to publish the book in two languages, Armenian and English, with a large-scale release. However, if we only reach a portion of our funding goal, we will implement Plan B: publishing the book in one language with a smaller-scale release.

illustration by Shamiram Khachatryan

No matter the outcome, we are committed to this project. If we initially fall short of our goal, we will continue our efforts and seek additional funding until we achieve Plan A. We will not give up and will persist in our work to bring this project to its full potential.

With love,

G.Urban Team Instagram I Facebook